We explore “10 things” that range from the menu of materials available to engineers in their profession to the many mechanical and electrical properties of materials important to their use in various engineering fields. We also discuss the principles behind the manufacturing of those materials.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
* Recognize the important aspects of the materials used in modern engineering applications,
* Explain the underlying principle of materials science: “structure leads to properties,”
* Identify the role of thermally activated processes in many of these important “things” – as illustrated by the Arrhenius relationship.
* Relate each of these topics to issues that have arisen (or potentially could arise) in your life and work.
If you would like to explore the topic in more depth you may purchase Dr. Shackelford's Textbook:
J.F. Shackelford, Introduction to Materials Science for Engineers, Eighth Edition, Pearson Prentice-Hall, Upper
Saddle River, NJ, 2015

From the lesson

Making Things Fast and Slow / A Brief History of Semiconductors

Welcome to week 5! In lesson nine we’ll deal with how to make things fast and slow. We’ll examine the lead-tin phase diagram and look at its practical applications as an example of making something slowly. Then we’ll evaluate the TTT diagram for eutectoid steel, and compare diffusional to diffusionless transformations with the TTT diagram, monitoring how we make things rapidly. Lesson ten is a brief history of semiconductors. Here, we discuss the role of semiconductor materials in the modern electronics industry. Our friend Arrhenius is back again, and this time we’re applying the Arrhenius Relationship to both intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors. We’ll also look at combined intrinsic and extrinsic behavior.